Is Articaine safe while breastfeeding?
Here is what LactMed, the Drugs and Lactation Database published by the U.S. National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), reports about Articaine. The text below is quoted from that source — it is not our own verdict.
Summary of use during breastfeeding
Based on the low excretion of articaine into breastmilk, a single dose of articaine injected during breastfeeding is unlikely to adversely affect the breastfed infant.
Effects on the breastfed infant
Relevant published information was not found as of the revision date.
Effects on milk supply
Relevant published information was not found as of the revision date.
Levels in milk
Maternal Levels. Two mothers donated 3 mL of breastmilk before 68 mg of articaine injection for dental anesthesia and at 15 and 30 minutes, 1, 1.5, 2 and 3 hours after administration. Peak milk articaine concentrations of 237 and 270 mcg/L occurred 15 minutes after administration and fell to about 10 mcg/L by 3 hours after the dose.[1]
Six nursing mothers were given an intraoral injection of 1.7 mL of a 4% articaine injection with 1:100,000 epinephrine that provided a total dose of 68 mg articaine. Three mL milk samples were collected before articaine administration and at 0.25, 0.5, 1, 1.5, 2, and 3 hours after the injection. Peak milk articaine levels, which occurred at 15 minutes after injection, averaged 257 mcg/L. Another 6 mothers received the same dose, but emptied their breasts before the dose and 3 hours after the dose. The concentration of articaine in the 3 hour sample was 15.6 mcg/L. Using these data, a computer model was constructed and predicted that the articaine dose in a breastfed infant would be 1.12 mg of articaine, which is equivalent to 0.05% of the safe dose of 5 mg/kg. The predicted peak concentration in infant plasma was 0.19 mcg/L compared to a toxic concentration of 3,100 mcg/L.[2]
Infant Levels. Relevant published information was not found as of the revision date.
“No published information” means the studies do not exist yet — not that Articaine is known to be harmful, and not that it is known to be safe. Your prescriber or pharmacist can weigh your baby's age and whether a better-studied alternative would do the same job. Worth asking before stopping a medicine you need.
Source: Drugs and Lactation Database (LactMed), National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), via NCBI Bookshelf, record “Articaine” (LM839). LactMed on NCBI Bookshelf. LactMed is a registered trademark of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Educational summary of an authoritative source — not medical advice. Never start, stop, or change a medicine while breastfeeding without confirming with your doctor.